Provided is a method for manufacturing a lithium cobaltate oriented sintered plate, comprising (a) providing a green sheet comprising Co.sub.3O.sub.4 particles, (b) firing the green sheet to form a Co.sub.3O.sub.4 oriented sintered plate, and (c) firing the sintered plate in the presence of a lithium source to introduce lithium and thereby form the lithium cobaltate oriented sintered plate composed of LiCoO.sub.2, the method further comprising (d1) attaching a Mg-containing compound to the Co.sub.3O.sub.4 oriented sintered plate before the step (c) or (d2) attaching the Mg-containing compound to the lithium cobaltate oriented sintered plate after the step (c) to fire the sintered plate. According to the present invention, a lithium cobaltate oriented sintered plate can be manufactured in which grain boundaries in the plate thickness direction are significantly reduced and with which enhanced battery performance can be achieved when used as a positive electrode active material in lithium secondary batteries.

Provided are a molding step (A) of preparing an alumina molded body 11 from a molding raw material which contains an alumina raw material powder having an average particle size of 2 m to 5 m and a molding additive, and a sintering step (B) of preparing an alumina molded body 12, which becomes a spark plug insulator 1, by sintering the alumina molded body 11. At the sintering step (B), the alumina molded body 11 is conveyed to a continuous furnace 100 provided with a heating zone Z1 which is heated to 700 C. to 1600 C. by a heating means 401, followed by introducing oxygen gas to control the heating zone Z1 to have a high oxygen atmosphere with an oxygen concentration exceeding 20 mol %.

A microwave ferrite material for a third-order intermodulation circulator and a preparation method therefor, the chemical formula being Y.sub.3-aCa.sub.aSn.sub.aIn.sub.bMn.sub.cFe.sub.5-a-b-cO.sub.12, 0.1?a?0.3, 0.01?b?0.1, 0.001?c?0.1. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) weighing; (2) first ball milling; (3) drying and preheating; (4) second ball milling; (5) granulation; and (6) post-treatment. The microwave ferrite material reduces the intermodulation interference between combined signals, and further improves the performance of communication systems and the coverage and capacity of networks. At the same time, it is ensured that the stability and repeatability of the preparation process are maintained at a good level, being suitable for mass production applications.

In the present invention, in producing a SiC single crystal in accordance with a solution method, a crucible containing SiC as a main component and having an oxygen content of 100 ppm or less is used as the crucible to be used as a container for a SiC solution. In another embodiment, a sintered body containing SiC as a main component and having an oxygen content of 100 ppm or less is placed in the crucible to be used as a container for a SiC solution. The SiC crucible and SiC sintered body are obtained by molding and baking a SiC raw-material powder having an oxygen content of 2000 ppm or less. SiC, which is the main component of these, serves as a source for Si and C and allows Si and C to elute into the SiC solution by heating.

An indium oxide sintered compact containing zirconium as an additive, wherein the ratio of atomic concentration of zirconium to the sum of the atomic concentration of indium and the atomic concentration of zirconium is in the range of 0.5 to 4%, the relative density is 99.3% or higher, and the bulk resistance is 0.5 m.Math.cm or less. An indium oxide transparent conductive film of high transmittance in the visible light region and the infrared region, with low film resistivity, and in which the crystallization temperature can be controlled, as well as the manufacturing method thereof, and an oxide sintered compact for use in producing such transparent conductive film are provided.

A method of forming a protective layer on an interconnect for an electrochemical cell stack includes coating at least one side of the interconnect with a metal oxide powder to form a protective layer, sintering the coated interconnect in an inert atmosphere to at least partially reduce the protective layer, and oxidizing the sintered interconnect in an oxidizing atmosphere to oxidize and densify the protective layer.

The present invention relates to lightweight high strength microsphere containing ceramic particles having controlled microsphere placement and/or size and microsphere morphology, which produces an improved balance of specific gravity and crush strength such that they can be used in applications such as proppants to prop open subterranean formation fractions. Proppant formulations are further disclosed which use one or more microsphere containing ceramic particles of the present invention. Methods to prop open subterranean formation fractions are further disclosed. In addition, other uses for the microsphere containing ceramic particles of the present invention are further disclosed, as well as methods of making the microsphere containing ceramic particles.

A magnetoelectric effect material includes as a primary component, a polycrystalline oxide ceramic containing at least Sr, Co, and Fe. In the polycrystalline oxide ceramic, the crystal c-axis is oriented in a predetermined direction, and the degree of orientation of the c-axis is 0.2 or more by a Lotgering method. A component substrate is formed of this magnetoelectric effect material.

A porous structure according to one embodiment of the present invention is constituted by a frame having a plurality of pores interconnected 3-dimensionally through a plurality of connecting passages. The plurality of pores defined by the frame are distributed in a closest packed state and are interconnected 3-dimensionally through a plurality of connecting passages in a symmetric structure, thus being effective in achieving a maximum porosity of the porous structure. A porous hierarchical structure according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a first porous structure having a plurality of 3-dimensionally interconnected first pores and a second porous structure having a plurality of 3-dimensionally interconnected second pores whose diameter is different from that of the first pores and surrounding and bonded to the first porous structure. A porous hierarchical structure according to a further embodiment of the present invention includes a frame having a plurality of 3-dimensionally interconnected first pores having a diameter in the micrometer range and a plurality of 3-dimensionally interconnected second pores formed around the first pores and whose diameter is smaller than that of the first pores.

Provided are: a sintered oxide which achieves low carrier density and high carrier mobility when configured as an oxide semiconductor thin-film by using the sputtering method; and a sputtering target using the same. This sintered oxide contains indium, gallium and magnesium as oxides. It is preferable for the gallium content to be 0.20-0.45, inclusive, in terms of an atomic ratio (Ga/(In+Ga)), the magnesium content to be at least 0.0001 and less than 0.05 in terms of an atomic ratio (Mg/(In+Ga+Mg)), and the sintering to occur at 1,200-1,550 C., inclusive. An amorphous oxide semiconductor thin-film obtained by forming this sintered oxide as a sputtering target is capable of achieving a carrier density of less than 3.010.sup.18 cm.sup.3, and a carrier mobility of 10 cm.sup.2V.sup.1 sec.sup.1 or higher.